MARIANI, June 23 – Its ‘zooish’ all around the region, with the creatures of the jungle ranging from monkeys, leopards, pythons and off course the elephant tramping all round the place and terrorizing the inhabitants. The simians had been a constant source of nuisance to the inhabitants of Dholi Sonari, Borara, Handique gaon, Bukahola, Bajalbari etc of Titabor since about 10 years. Apart from spoiling the paddy fields and vegetable gardens, they pester people inside godowns and houses. “These monkeys even switch on the lights to feast on the kitchen items” explaimed a victim.
Hundreds of these monkeys had been rendered shelterless after the forests of the area were hacked down for building the cement factory and other such constructions in the area. Then come the crawlers, often as massive as a 25 kg python. Recently one such python of 8 feet, 20 kg was trapped at Tyroon TE by the workers there. A worker was also hurt while trying to get hold of it. Later it was taken to the Gibbon Sanctuary. Such pythons often swallow down inferior animals like goats, according to often received reports.
For the dwellers in Duklingia TE, Melen TE, and other adjacent areas to Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary the rabble-rousers are the Leopards. Instances of tea workers being wounded in a leopard attack are often reported while domestic animals like cows and goats sometimes perish. Apart from these elephant depredation is another preoccupied problem haunting the region. In a recent incident, the tuskers destroyed a vegetable garden of a dweller in Madhupur village of Meleng that was worth more than Rs 30,000 in terms of pluckable stock. Two houses were also brought down by the pachyderms at Bongaon recently.
Instances relating to animal menace has become the order of the day here. Curtailment of the forest cover of the region including that of the wildlife sanctuary, resulting from illegal subjugation of land and deforestation is further worsening the situation. Failure of the forest department to preserve the animals, absence of border fence in the sanctuary and an overall ‘turning the back’ attitude of the higher authorities has irked the denizens, who felt that tranference of the section of animals to another habitat seems to be the only solution.